Nga Man Lia and Diganta Dasa
a CALCE, Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20740, USA
Abstract:
Environmental stress screening (ESS) is a process
to eliminate defects caused by materials and manufacturing
variations in electronic products by a 100% screening, with the
goal to eventually improve manufacturing processes that cause
the defects. MIL-HDBK 344A- Environmental Stress Screening
(ESS) of Electronic Equipment describes a quantitative approach
for planning, monitoring, and controlling an ESS process. This
handbook was last updated in 1993 but is still widely used today
within and beyond the military and aerospace industries. While
the processes and overall philosophy of ESS are well presented in
the handbook, the mathematical foundations and the data it uses
have become obsolete over the years. These concerns are
explained with a thorough analysis of the initial defect estimation
and screening strength estimation steps described in the
handbook. With the rapid evolution in electronics technology, the
handbook’s estimation methods are meaningless if not
counterproductive for the planning of an ESS program for
today’s electronics systems. Based on the critical concerns
presented in this article, we urge the U.S. Department of Defense
to cancel and stop use of MIL-HDBK 344A.
This article is available online here and to CALCE Consortium Members for personal review.